Friday, April 25, 2014

Nearly two weeks have passed since the release of Maximus Cerebrum... and since I'm bored I thought it would be interesting to write up a summary of my thoughts on how the release went and how the public have reacted to the game.

Warning: If you have not played the game already, I do not recommend reading this post as it may contain spoilers.

I'm going to end on a positive note, so first I will start with a few things I regret about my latest release.
First of all, in Maximus Cerebrum, even though there are some slight branches, the paths to the end are actually rather linear. The game came out this way due to a lack of planning. This is not entirely a bad thing, however, because a lot of players like to have the pathways easy to find so they won't get lost(I'm like this as well). I also wish I had put in a few more robot moving things in the last half part of the game. It is a robot generation facility after all... a couple more robots would have given the game even more depth, I think.
People really seemed to enjoy the tiny little puzzles spread out through the game... it might have been advisable to put in even more, however... and maybe a few that were a bit more difficult.
Additionally, there are some parts of the game where you're just walking, it's a bit boring at times for some players, I'm sure. It's regrettable, but because the game doesn't have any real combat or consistently appearing enemies, I don't see how it could be avoided. There are also a few really minor things I will not even bother mentioning as I'm sure most players won't even find out about them.

In spite of my regrets, I am still quite pleased with Maximus Cerebrum. It was an on-and-off project for over 2 years, and even after a long break where I didn't touch the game for about 6 months I actually managed to pick it up again and completely finish it in just a couple months. The ultimate satisfaction for a game developer is just that, finishing a game.

Maximus Cerebrum has been downloaded nearly 800 times so far. It's Game Jolt page has been viewed over 3500 times. It has been featured on GameJolt as well as indiegames.com, metroidvanias.com and Warp Door. A few let's plays of the game have already started appearing on YouTube.

Maximus Cerebrum was a success.

However, I cannot take complete credit for the game as it is. There are a lot of people who helped me with the game and made various contributions without which the game would not be what it is today.
I don't even know if the game would have ever been completed without the support, feedback and suggestions of my beta testers. ramses12, the game's composer did a fantastic job as well(to say the least), 7 separate tracks for the game, and he revised some of them quite a few times in response to my nit-picks. There are even a few others who helped out and are not even mentioned in the game credits because they chose to be anonymous.
To all of you incredible people, I give my hearty thanks and appreciation!

But there is one other person I must thank.
Thank YOU for playing! After all, what use is a game if no one ever plays it? :D You players make it all worthwhile for us game developers! Thanks a lot!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

I've done a lot and even made a few small games since the last time I posted, I'll try to keep this as concise as I can.

First and foremost, Maximus Cerebrum is almost complete. I still need a few more music tracks and then I'll be sending it out to some beta testers for feedback before a final release. I am rather anxious to see how well the game will be received.

In my free time I made a few quick games for the 3 hour game jam which is hosted each Saturday now. You make a game in 3 hours based on the theme given on the website and then post a download link to it on twitter using the hashtag #3hGj
I've made 2 games for it so far, the first theme was "Light Bulb" and I made Unscramble Adventures for that one.

In other news, the game I released earlier this year on January 31st, The Sound Of Murder, has been received pretty well. It is nearing 4000 views and has almost reached 2000 downloads. There have also been a few let's plays on YouTube of the game and I enjoyed one in particular by the ThingsWePlay channel:

I think I've covered almost everything now, I hope you've found this little progress update informative!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

It's been a while since my last post so I feel I need to give a progress update of sorts on my latest projects.

I've been putting most of my efforts into finishing the project I started over 2 years ago, Maximus Cerebrum. I'm trying to finish the game before I reach 18 years old, so that gives me just a few months... I've been devoting as much time to it as is possible.

Unfortunately, due to this deadline I've set upon myself for Maximus Cerebrum, I cannot afford to put much of my time into other projects, such as Stone Spirit. However, Stone Spirit is nearly finished, anyway. I don't expect it to be very long after I release Maximus Cerebrum that I will also be releasing Stone Spirit.